02/14/2017

I am hearing from family members of immigrants picked up by ICE at meetings with their probation officers in Waco. If you are undocumented, don't miss your meeting with probation, but be ready with documents to show your connections to the U.S. and phone numbers to call family members.

Here are links to Family Safety Plans prepared by the Immigrant Services Network of Austin:

02/07/2017

Denise Gilman on why people don't just "get in line" from The Daily Texan article by Lisa Dreher

Denise Gilman is the director of the UT Immigration Clinic, which provides legal assistance to low-income immigrant families. Gilman said the tedious legal process causes families to opt for other ways to get through.

“You can’t come on any permanent basis, and so it’s difficult to cross through official customs and border control,” Gilman said. “Not because there’s a line at the border or because customs and border control is stopping people, but because the way our law is set up, there’s no legal way for many, many intending immigrants to come into the United States.”

Gilman said immigrants are accepted by customs and border control mainly if they have family in the U.S., are asked by an employer to work in the states or are seeking asylum.

“It’s not so much about the physical border as it is about what the laws are that don’t acknowledge the many categories of people who would like to come and contribute to the United States,” Gilman said. “Immigrants who need to get to the United States will do so over, under (or) around any border wall.”

01/26/2017

On January 25, President Trump signed a pair of immigration-related executive orders, one dealing with border security and the other with immigration enforcement in the interior of the country. The order on border security has received the most public attention—particularly the “great wall” that Trump is so anxious to build. But it is the other order that presents the greatest danger to unauthorized immigrants.

The order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, effectively makes all unauthorized immigrant in the United States an “enforcement priority,” regardless of whether they entered the country without inspection or overstayed a visa, and irrespective of whether or not they have a criminal record. And the order ramps up efforts to find and remove unauthorized immigrants from the country by expanding the ranks of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and transforming more local police into immigration agents.

This order is flawed at a number of levels. To begin with it is based on a false premise; that immigrants pose some kind of threat to native-born Americans. The order actually says:

“Many aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas present a significant threat to national security and public safety.”

In reality, an enormous amount of evidence has accumulated over the past century demonstrating that high rates of immigration are associated with lower crime rates, and immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education. In other words, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are not “criminals” by any commonly accepted definition of the term.

A second major flaw in this order is that it treats unauthorized immigration as if it were exclusively a law-enforcement issue and nothing more. It calls for 10,000 new ICE agents; agreements between the federal government and local police that would enable the police to act as immigration agents, and consider withholding federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities” in which police don’t ask people about their immigration status so as to maintain trust with the communities they serve. This fails to recognize that unauthorized immigration is a symptom of a larger problem: an immigration system in which avenues for legal immigration are out of sync with the economic and social forces which drive immigration.

A third key problem with this order is that it fails to establish any priorities for determining which immigrants to detain and deport first. The order states that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should prioritize the removal of any and all “aliens” who have been convicted of a crime, charged with a crime, or committed an act which could be construed as a chargeable crime—not to mention anyone who has crossed the border without permission or overstayed a visa. These priorities are defined so expansively as to be meaningless. Real enforcement priorities would zero in on violent criminals first—not unauthorized immigrants driving in a car with a broken tail light.

In the final analysis, this executive order is little more than a crass form of immigrant-bashing. Unauthorized immigrants are stereotyped as criminals and treated as such. No consideration is given to the financial costs of new enforcement measures, the social costs of tearing apart U.S. families and communities in order to deport non-violent individuals, and the undermining of community policing by turning police into immigration agents. No matter how you look at it, this order is a disaster.

Increase enforcement against aliens without criminal convictions, authorize local law enforcement officers to act as immigration officers, hire more immigration officers, cut off funds to jurisdictions who decline to honor detainers or share information with ICE, bring back Secure Communities, make reports listing immigration status of all aliens imprisoned in the U.S., services for victims of crimes committed by removable aliens.

The order instructs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target "all removable aliens." It prioritizes aliens with any criminal conviction, charge or "who have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense." This expands criminal aliens to include those charged (but not convicted) and those who have not been charged with a crime. To accomplish this, 10,000 additional immigration officers are to be hired.

State and local law enforcement officers will be allowed to "perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens." This amounts to a national "show me your papers" policy, allowing any law enforcement officer to ask for proof of immigration status, and leading to racial profiling.

The order also defines "sanctuary jurisdictions" as those who refuse or limit requesting, maintaining or exchanging information about immigration status. A list of jurisdictions that decline to honor detainers will be published weekly with a list of criminal actions committed in those jurisdictions by aliens. It also establishes an office to provide services to victims of crimes committed by removable aliens.

The Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) is terminated and "Secure Communities" is reinstated, which means that any undocumented alien who is arrested will be placed in removal. The order also requires reports listing immigration status of all aliens imprisoned in the U.S.

Maybe the answer should be "Worse."*

*See, The Mouse and His Child, Russell Hoban, Muskrat's "Us and Them Tables."

**Kris Kobach is an advisor to Mr. Trump on immigration. He is the Kansas Secretary of State and the author of the Arizona "show me your papers" law.

11/21/2016

Last week, a Sanctuary Cities Bill was once again introduced in the Texas Legislature. Here is a link to an interview that I gave to Estephany Escobar of KXXV-TV.

The Bill addresses sanctuary cities (which are not a problem in Texas), encourages "show me your papers" by local police, and requires law enforcement to investigate and record in files on criminal cases when someone is in the U.S. unlawfully.

Sanctuary Cities:

"Sanctuary city" is a term frequently used for a broad range of situations from entities that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to those who create a welcoming environments for immigrants.

There are no cities in Texas that I am aware of who refuse to cooperate with ICE. Austin is frequently given as an example of a sanctuary city, but the Travis County jail releases individuals to ICE where there is a detainer (request to hold the individual for 48 hours after release from county custody).

Show Me Your Papers:

The bill prohibits policies that prevent law enforcement from inquiring about someone's immigration status. This has nothing to do with sanctuary cities and is a road to racial profiling.

Investigate/Record Requirement:

This requires an affirmative inquiry into the immigration status of each individual that is arrested or charged with a crime. If an individual does not have lawful status, it is to be noted in the file and reported to the judge in charge of the case. The only purpose that this serves is to encourage stiffer penalties for those who do not have lawful status.

The introduction of this kind of legislation erodes the relationship between law enforcement and the immigrant community and hurts us all.

11/11/2016

I've received many calls and emails this week. Immigrants and their supporters are anxious about what Donald Trump's presidency will mean for them. Here are a few thoughts (but no answers):

DACA

Individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are worried that their lives are going to be torn apart. DACA has been an inspiration to me as I have seen young people use their education and talents to work in their chosen professions and to improve their lives and communities. It will be a great loss for these U.S. educated individuals with strong ties here to once again be unable to work or drive legally.

President-Elect Trump has said that he intends to immediately cancel "unconstitutional executive action[s]" including DACA. It is unknown whether he will allow those with DACA to continue working until their authorizations expire or will immediately cancel all employment authorizations and deferred action.

The loss of DACA will hurt us all.

Removals

Individuals who are in the U.S. unlawfully are subject to removal (deportation). The Obama administration has already removed or deported more people than any other president. They have concentrated efforts on those with significant criminal convictions. Mr. Trump says he will "begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country." The Obama administration already has the Immigration Courts backlogged for years with removal cases. The Trump administration will need to pour considerable money into the Immigration Courts to move faster than his predecessor.

I am concerned that he will expand the definition of "criminal alien" to include minor traffic offenses, including driving without a license. This will lead to racial profiling and fear of police in our communities.

Anti-Immigrant Advisors

Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State and author of numerous egregious and unconstitutional immigration laws (think racial profiling in Arizona), has announced that he will be on Mr. Trump's transition team to advise him on immigration issues. It is deeply troubling (but not surprising) that Mr. Kobach will be influencing immigration policy in the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, 102 immigration and administrative law professors delivered a letter to President Barack Obama stating that his Administration—through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—has the legal authority to and should designate El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala (the Northern Triangle countries) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), potentially benefiting 1.2 million undocumented immigrants. TPS is a form of humanitarian protection that provides protection from deportation and employment authorization for undocumented immigrants who cannot be safely returned to their country.

The legal experts in the letter argue that such designation would likely be immune to the type of legal challenges that have stalled the President’s expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. The letter was written by Professor Erin Corcoran, former Director of the Warren B Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service at the University of New Hampshire Law; Professor Andrew Schoenholtz, Director of the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown Law; and Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State Law-University Park.

“The legal foundation for the administration to designate TPS to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras is clear,” states Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia.“Congress established TPS as a tool for responding to humanitarian emergencies like those in the Northern Triangle countries.”

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and the National Immigrant Justice Center delivered the letter to President, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch on behalf of the professors. Recently, the ILRC released a report detailing the legal grounds for designation of TPS to Northern Triangle countries.

This is the second letter in support of TPS for the Northern Triangle countries sent by law professors. The first, sent earlier this year, outlined the deteriorating country conditions that warrant TPS designations. The law professor’s letter joins a chorus of growing voices in support of TPS for the Northern Triangle countries, including more than 270 immigrant and refugee organizations; 200 faith groups; 146 members of the House of Representatives; and 23 members of the U.S. Senate.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, law enforcement, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC’s mission is to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. https://www.ilrc.org

07/29/2016

Today U.S.C.I.S. published the rule expanding stateside waiver processing to "all statutorily eligible individuals regardless of their immigration visa classification." The final rule is effective August 29, 2016.

This expansion of the provisional waiver process will allow family members of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who are eligible for immigrant visas, to apply for waivers of unlawful presence and the 3 and 10 year bars prior to leaving the U.S. for their consular visa appointments, as U.S. citizen family members have been doing since 2013. Applicants can apply for provisional waivers of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility, based on the extreme hardship their U.S. citizen or LPR spouses or parents would suffer if the waiver were not granted.

A revision to form I-601A will be posted on August 29, 2016.

USCIS also expects to update its Policy Manual to provide guidance on how USCIS makes “extreme hardship” determinations in the coming weeks.

07/25/2016

Texas babies with undocumented parents will now be issued birth certificates. Last year Texas stopped issuing birth certificates to parents who had only an ID issued by another country or a passport without a valid visa. Thanks to the Texas Civil Rights Project and Rio Grande Legal Aid for their good work in righting this wrong.

From The Texas Civil Rights Project:

The State of Texas has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by dozens of immigrant families and the community organizing union, La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), challenging the State’s refusal to issue birth certificates to babies born in Texas to undocumented mothers. In a big win for immigrant families, Texas will adjust its rules to ensure that all Texas-born babies can receive the birth certificates they are legally owed.

Without birth certificates, our clients lived in constant fear of having their families torn apart and their American-born children deported. They also struggled to get access to basic education, health, religious and childcare services. The settlement will be life-changing for them.

With co-counsel at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, we filed suit last year after Texas began refusing to accept the two forms of IDs most commonly used by undocumented immigrants to obtain birth certificates for children born in the state. We argued that these changes were politically motivated, and effectively shut out undocumented mothers, leaving most of them unable to prove the citizenship of their American-born babies.

Under the terms of the settlement, Texas will accept several IDs that are commonly available to undocumented immigrants living in Texas. Officials also agreed to undertake significant efforts to train local registrars on the new rules. In addition, the State will run a hotline so that anyone who is wrongly turned away by local registrars can get help.